Heartbreak from yesterday and fret for tomorrow’ll leave you
Now filled with anxiety and hollow
If you pray don’t worry, if you worry don’t pray
Yasiin Bey couldn’t put it any better. It feels like there’s always something to worry about: Swipe up, and the reality of climate change is front and center. Head over to Twitter, only to find out COVID is still trending. In the beer industry, the ongoing fight for inclusion and diversity can feel daunting. But in spite of everything, I’m pretty confident things are getting better—especially within beer.
A month ago, I humbly accepted an opportunity from Barrel & Flow Fest to collaborate on two beers with Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia. When the brew day rolled around, it was early on a Sunday morning, and I was the second person to arrive after driving up from Baltimore. I was greeted by Marissa, an adjunct professor at the university with an extensive knowledge of brewing. A few minutes later, two of the students, Lara and Shalanda, arrived. I’d met everyone prior to the brew day, so we were all pretty familiar with each other’s backgrounds and roles in the industry. But this day still hit different.
It can get emotionally draining, speaking out on diversity and inclusion. But that brew day with those three women was all lightness. There weren’t long discussions about being Black in beer spaces, or as a woman in beer. Our goal was just to be together, to brew beer and to enjoy the time feeling free of social barriers.
It wasn’t until after the day was complete that I was able to process how uplifted the collaboration made me feel. The students are in the right place to preserve and improve our industry. Marissa was an inspiring instructor and leader, and shared so much knowledge. Seeing first-hand that diverse voices are being heard was enough for me to not fret about tomorrow.
In the same song, Yasiin follows up the above lyrics with an outro:
Life is beautiful
Even when the world is wack,
So much beauty, we forget to be reminded
That you can be anywhere and find it
Try it
I promise I’m not lying
